


Human Courtship Rituals (I Read It In A Book)

by sunspot (unavoidedcrisis)



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Breaking and Entering, Courting Rituals, F/M, First Kiss, Human Cole (Dragon Age), Pastries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 08:21:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29468625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unavoidedcrisis/pseuds/sunspot
Summary: "You liked it?" Cole laughs with his small, lilting laugh that catches on the ear and sounds unplaceably odd until one notices everyone around is smiling along with him.
Relationships: Cole/Cassandra Pentaghast
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	Human Courtship Rituals (I Read It In A Book)

First the little bundle of posies and now this. Cassandra remembers the conversation about the pastries clearly though it's been more than a month, the roads of half of Orlais, and a near-endless amount of skirmishes since then.

The blueberry tart is not the same Nevarran treat she'd had in her childhood, but the smell of berries and sugar and buttery pastry hits her nostalgia hard all the same.

She picks the tart up to march it back where it came from, but Cassandra swiftly realizes that returning it to the kitchens now will raise far more questions and create more problems than it can possibly solve, so she might as well find Cole and give him yet another talking to. She's been on him more than once about stealing and it hasn't quite sunk in. She'll need to get Inquisitor Adaar involved, or Varric, who Cole enjoys so much.

But since her goal is to educate Cole rather than berate him or get him into real trouble, she'd better dispose of the evidence first.

The tart is the most exquisite combination of richness, sweetness, reminiscence, and being something other than the camp food she's been eating for the last four weeks. Cassandra groans a little after the first bite. She takes another, savouring it as long as she can manage, and hides the other half of it in her bag for later.

Cassandra finds Cole in the training yard, observing a sparring match with the same keen interest he takes in most things.

"You found it?" he asks, though his smile as he jumps down off the fence belies that he already knows the answer.

She nods stiffly. He's so earnest and here she is about to lecture him. She sighs inwardly. "Yes, ah, thank you, Cole, but you shouldn't steal from the kitchens."

"You liked it?" Cole laughs with his small, lilting laugh that catches on the ear and sounds unplaceably odd until one notices everyone around is smiling along with him. Cassandra smiles in spite of the message she's trying to impart.

"I didn't steal it," he says, maybe catching the thoughts lingering in her mind. "I asked the woman in the kitchen to make it for me. I watched while she worked and she was happy for a while; I reminded her of her sons before the red fever came to their village, she said. She asked me to go out and carry water so I wouldn't see her tears."

Cassandra blinks in surprise and feels a sentimental surge. She was not expecting that for a variety of reasons. "Oh. Cole. That was very sweet of you. Thank you. And thank you for being kind to that woman."

He cocks his head at her while unreadable thoughts flicker across his face. "Thank you, Cassandra."

"It's 'you're welcome,' Cole. You say 'you're welcome' when someone tells you thank you."

"I know," Cole says. His unreadable expression turns into a slow, even smile. "Thank you is thankful and you're welcome is welcoming. I mean to be both."

"Ah, well… all right," she says, not quite parsing it.

"I read your book," he says. "Varric's book."

Cassandra starts to blush. "Cole, that book is not --"

"Varric's a good writer, but it's not his best work. I didn't read it for that, I read it because you like it. You like imagining one day some handsome knight will sweep you off your feet."

"Well… yes," she admits. She's held that little fantasy for years, but lately it's been harder and harder to conjure up the knight in shining armor. "But that shouldn't be your concern."

"It is. I'm very concerned," he says, mouth twisting in a frown. "I'm not a knight and I don't understand why I need a broom, Cassandra. But I'll be one and I'll find one, if that's what you need."

"You don't need a broom, it's a figure of speech," she says automatically as she's processing the rest of what he's said.

"Ahh. A figure." Cole waits patiently for her to speak again instead of trying to root the thoughts out of her mind. Ever since choosing humanity, he's become… well, more human, of course, but he's more patient and even more curious. He regards her closely while she gathers her words.

"Cole, are you… courting me?"

He tilts his head in that birdlike way he does. "Maybe."

"Maybe?" she echoes.

"It depends."

She's well and truly befuddled now. "Depends on what?"

"Is it working?" His face splits into a grin.

Cassandra can't help but laugh a little. She remembers the posies, the times he's offered help, or listened intently to a story or a trouble and is struck with the thought that yes, it is working. She had intended a half second ago to let him down gently, but his eyes are warm and she gets a little turned around in them.

"Cole, I… Perhaps."

"Perhaps. Possibly, perchance… I think it is," he says, stepping towards her. 

Cassandra freezes, a natural instinct when someone steps into her space, but then relaxes a little, because he's smiling, and he left her a blueberry tart, and it's definitely working; she's being courted. It's a one hundred and eighty degrees turn from where they started a few moments ago, and yet it feels so natural. She can't help the tiny sigh that escapes her.

He touches her face and this isn't even kind of what she'd thought would happen when she came out to find him. She should retreat, regroup, but then Cole kisses her, a soft brush of his lips against hers. Where he learned that, she doesn't want to know. Certainly not Varric's books. The kissing in those tended to be a bit more… excessive.

Before Cassandra can analyze any more of the kiss, he pulls back and narrows his eyes. "Am I doing it wrong?"

"No," she says, when she means to say 'I don't think we should be kissing, especially not here, in a public place.'

"Good," he says, and he tries again, one hand snaking around her waist to the small of her back to hold her steady as he leans up to kiss her. Cassandra's hands come to rest on his shoulders, like she's making to push him away, but the kiss is so sweet and she hasn't been kissed in so long, and and and… 

Her mind spins, his lips are soft, he strokes her back carefully. She melts a little into his arms, surprised initially but then grateful for his strength. It's everything the books told her it should be, but it's also more. She's dizzy with it, feeling amazed and amused, fond and infinitely fortunate.

"Cole, I…" she says, when he finally steps back. Her mind is still racing. "We shouldn't kiss in public."

He ducks his head but she catches another lopsided grin.

"Sorry, Cassandra. I'll know for next time."

She starts to nod and then her mind finally kicks into gear enough to process the words. "'Next time?' Oh, I…"

Cole takes her hand and kisses her knuckles. "If you'd like," he says easily.

Cassandra feels her face heating up, both at the gesture and the suggestion of another time. She's looking forward to it. "All right," she tells him, taking her hand back and biting down on a smile. "But no more sneaking into my rooms to leave things."

"Yes, Cassandra," he says, not hiding his smile.

She walks away like she's walking on sunshine and clouds. She can't really taste the tart anymore, but she still feels the whisper of his lips on hers and it's better than berries.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Ash for beta help!
> 
> Happy (late) Valentine's Day and happy International Fanworks Day!


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